Daylight Savings tends to be a big topic here at The Baby Sleep Site®; we start getting e-mails in the Helpdesk up to a month before it ends, asking for suggestions on how to help babies and toddlers ‘fall back’ and adjust to the time change.

And that’s what we are talking about today! We’re presenting two strategies for surviving the daylight savings time change.

2 Options For Surviving Daylight Savings

Do nothing. If your baby’s is fairly adaptable to change, and is not sensitive to overtiredness, then you can simply do nothing, take the time change in stride. This means sticking to your baby or toddler’s normal schedule as best you can. The exception to that would be the morning wake-up time; that will likely be earlier for a few days, or maybe a week. For example, if your baby normally wakes at 7 a.m., then after the time change, she will probably wake closer to 6 a.m. However, keep naps and bedtime close to their usual times. You can bump them up a bit if your baby or toddler seems really exhausted, but remember, this is a short-term solution. You don’t want to do this long-term, or you will create a long-term schedule change.

This is also a good option for babies and toddlers who are waking up and going to bed too late. If this is the case, and if you would like your child’s wake time, naps, and bedtimes to be a bit earlier than they currently are, consider yourself lucky — the end of daylight savings will shift your child’s schedule backwards by an hour!

Tweak your child’s schedule ahead of time. If your baby is already waking up too early in the morning, in relation to your ideal family schedule, we recommend doing some preemptive work ahead of time to ease the transition. Moving your baby’s schedule isn’t always easy, but in the next week or two, you can successfully move your baby’s schedule forward by an hour and then move it again, if necessary, to achieve your family’s ideal schedule.

For example, if your baby is waking at 5 a.m., and you’d like her to wake at 6 a.m. or later, you can move her schedule forward one hour to 6 a.m., wait for the time to change (where she will be waking at 5 a.m. once again) and then move her schedule forward again. This works best when your baby is at least 8 months old, but some 6 month old schedules can be moved as well. Younger babies generally will adjust naturally within a few days to two weeks as long as you don’t strictly stick to the earlier schedule (a young baby’s sleep is already highly disorganized).

If you are interested, our Shifting Schedules e-Book outlines detailed steps (with examples) to moving your baby’s schedule. Available exclusively to Baby Sleep Site® members, it deals with managing early-morning wake up times, as well as late bedtimes. It also provides tips and insights that are useful for tackling the time change. It even includes a case study that follows one family’s schedule shift as they worked one-on-one with Nicole. Members have the option to download and print a copy of the e-book at no cost.

Reminders About How Daylight Savings Affects Bedtime

Keep in mind that late bedtimes equal overtiredness. And overtiredness equals restless nights for babies and toddlers, and even earlier morning wake-up times. So watch your baby’s bedtime carefully, and make it earlier, if needed (for a few days, at least – while your baby adjusts). Here’s an example, to help you visualize this point: if your baby normally goes to bed at 7 p.m., after the time change, 6 p.m. will ‘feel’ like 7 p.m., since it WAS 7 p.m. just a few days ago. So if your baby seems sleepy around 6 p.m., respect that, and put him to bed a little early (maybe at 6:15 or 6:30). This shouldn’t be a long-term strategy, of course (few families want a bedtime that early!) But it’s a good short-term strategy.

Prepare For The Time Change Like A Pro, With Our Resources!

The end of Daylight Savings Time is right around the corner – we’ll be “falling back” before we know it! If you’re too tired or overwhelmed to do a bunch of reading and to create your own DST prep plan, let us do the work for you. You can connect with one of our caring, expert sleep consultants today, and she’ll send you your very own Personalized Sleep Plan™ that will walk you through every step of DST prep. It will also outline the steps you need to follow to improve your baby or toddler’s overall sleeping habits.

Once you make your choice and purchase, you will immediately receive an e-mail with your Helpdesk login information. You’ll be able to login and start your Family Sleep History form right away – it’s that simple!

Or, join our Members Area packed with exclusive content and resources: e-Books, assessments, detailed case studies, expert advice, peer support, and more. It actually costs less to join than buying products separately! Even better – as a member, you have access to our #1 Daylight Savings preparation resource, our Shift Your Child’s Schedule e-book. This e-book is the perfect tool for helping you gently shift your child’s schedule in order to accommodate the time change – and member can download and print a copy of the book! And don’t forget that as a member, you’ll also enjoy a weekly chat with an expert sleep consultant, which is perfect if you have truly tough, pressing DST questions that require expert help. And the best part – members receive 20% off all sleep consultation services!

How are you planning for the end of Daylight Saving’s Time? How do you anticipate it will affect your baby or toddler’s schedule? Let’s put our heads together and share some tips and advice!

Each year in the United States, the first week of March is National Sleep Awareness Week. This week is meant to coincide with Spring Daylight Saving Times as well as help promote the benefits and necessity of healthy sleep habits.

This year, Daylight Saving Time for the US and Canada will be on Sunday, March 10th. For those of you in Europe, DST will happen on March 31. Many of our friends in the Southern Hemisphere will have a fall back DST in April. Whenever DST happens for you, most of you already know how this can create havoc with your baby or toddler’s sleep schedule for a few days or weeks. Falling back in time will tend to create more problems than springing forward. If you’re worried about how the time change will affect your little on what you can do about it, be sure to check out this week’s article on Tuesday, when we will offer some tips for handling Daylight Saving Time with your baby’s schedule.

Here at The Baby Sleep Site, we certainly want to do our part to help promote sleep awareness! Below are some tips and facts that we hope you find helpful.

1. Amount of Sleep – The amount of sleep your baby or toddler needs varies by age. Newborns and young babies will obviously need more sleep than an older baby or toddler. For more information about how much sleep your baby or toddler needs by age, please see this article.

2. Schedule and Routine – A good schedule and routine are essential to helping your baby or toddler get the sleep they need. It also creates a sense of predictability and helps set their body clock which will ultimately keep your baby or toddler from getting overtired and being able to go to sleep when it’s time. Please visit our Schedules page for a full list of our sample baby and toddler sleep schedules by age.

3. How to Get Your Baby on a Schedule – Having a good idea of what kind of schedule your baby or toddler should be on is good information to have, but the next step is to then help your baby or toddler to adapt to that schedule. We suggest you read this post for some additional information on how to put your baby on a nap/sleep schedule.

As we have in previous years, we are also hosting a Sleep Awareness Week Giveaway! And this year, in addition to our Grand Prize, we have a fantastic list of other sleep related prizes to help your baby or toddler get the sleep they need (and you too!) Keep reading for more details about the prizes and how to enter!

Giveaway

For this giveaway, one winner will be selected to receive a $150 gift card to Amazon. We were also fortunate to partner up with several other companies to offer to you some additional fabulous sleep related prizes along with some prizes from The Baby Sleep Site. Please be sure to visit the websites of our giveaway partners. See below for a full list of the prizes and their descriptions – plus some discount offers from a few of the companies for our readers! Entries to the giveaway will be accepted today through 11:59 pm, March 10, 2013.Please note that some prizes are only available to US entrants. Prizes will indicate whether they are only available to US winners or available internationally.

The Grand Prize Winner for the Sleep Awareness Week Giveaway will win a $150 Gift Card to Amazon which will be sent to them electronically. An Amazon Gift Card can be used to order easily online for a wide variety of items or for digital items such as Kindle ebooks or movies. *Please note Amazon does have some restrictions about what they will ship to different countries.

Additional Prizes

We will be giving away a copy of this ebook to one lucky winner. This book helps you design a step by step a sleep coaching plan that works for you and your family. It also includes a quick reference guide with age-specific sleep guidelines and sleep log for tracking your child’s sleep patterns. Whether you are interested in co-sleeping, crying it out, setting schedules, night weaning or feeding at night, this book covers it all! *This prize is available to US and International entrants.

Zipadee-Zip Slumber Sacks

The Zipadee-Zip This wearable blanket was designed by a mom, like you, specifically to help transition a baby off of the swaddle and teach them to sleep freely! It prevents a baby’s hands from getting cold at night and is also designed to help babies who scratch their faces while sleeping (perfect for babies with eczema!). The cozy, enclosed environment teaches babies to self-soothe and learn to fall asleep on their own!

The Baby Sleep Site Reader Special: Baby Sleep Site Readers can receive $5 off of their entire Zipadee-Zip purchase. Enter promo code ‘ZZZ’ (without the quotes) at checkout.

Hear from other parents who are raving about the Zipadee-Zip in this video. One winner will receive a Zipadee-Zip of their choice.*This prize only available to US entrants.

One copy of our Mastering Naps and Schedules e-book will be awarded. If naps are a struggle or if you have questions about how much and how often your baby or toddler should be napping, then this is the book for you. This book covers how to help your child learn to nap longer, why naps are so important for nighttime sleep, how to break baby’s dependence on you to fall asleep, how to help your early riser learn to sleep later, and includes over 40 sample schedules…plus much more!

One winner will receive a copy of Mastering Naps and Schedules.*This prize is available to US and International entrants.

SnoozeShade

It’s not always possible to stay at home during your baby’s nap time. So what do you do when you have to go out but baby needs a sleep?

SnoozeShade is the answer. You don’t have to worry about your little one missing a nap or getting overtired when you’re out and about. This award-winning line of sun and sleep shades protects babies from the sun and helps them get the sleep they need wherever and whenever they need it. In a busy world, SnoozeShade means you can run errands or go shopping while your baby can switch off for a nap.

SnoozeShades are designed for use with strollers, infant carriers and playards. They create a dark comfortable sleep environment which blurs visual stimuli that often keeps babies awake regardless of how tired they are. SnoozeShades also shield baby’s delicate skin from up to 98.5% of the sun’s harmful UV rays as well as protecting from wind, light rain, chill and insects.

Designed by a mom and endorsed by sleep experts and health professionals worldwide, SnoozeShades are soft, stretchable and a cinch to use. You can find out more on www.snoozeshadeUSA.com.

SPECIAL OFFER: Visit www.snoozeshadeUSA.com and use BSS20 at checkout to save 20% and get FREE shipping on any purchase until 30 June 2013.

Many parents are surprised to learn that it is not that uncommon for a toddler to not be sleeping through the night or have other sleep related issues. With this toddler sleep book, you can learn how to get back in control with this comprehensive toddler sleep guide. This ebook includes a toolkit of strategies, sample schedules, and sleep logs will put your toddler on the right sleep track.

One winner will receive a copy of The 5 Step System to Better Toddler Sleep.*This prize is available to US and International entrants.

Sweet Dreams and Flying Machines

Sweet Dreams & Flying Machines was founded during a 3am feeding, while battling baby brain, when a stroke of inspiration hit. An image of the safest, snuggliest and most functional baby sleepwear started to form. Sleep Sacs and Swaddles with personality to rally against the sea of pastels and whites. What you’re looking at now is the result of that inspiration, and the most powerful tool there is: a mother’s love.

Sweet Dreams and Flying Machines is new on the scene and starting with a bang. They are proudly Canadian and are designed and manufactured in beautiful Vancouver, British Columbia.

With a bedtime story theme, we aim to bridge the gap between form and function, creating stunning pieces with timeless sentiment. They have worked tirelessly to develop the safest design for your precious baby, from armhole and neck dimensions to a new sizing strategy. Sweet Dreams and Flying Machines baby sleep wear is a perfect blend of safety, comfort, style and convenience and they use only the finest, highly breathable, fire tested fabrics.

One winner will receive a Sweet Dreams and Flying Machines baby sleep sack and one winner will receive a Sweet Dreams and Flying Machines Swaddle. *These prizes are available to US and International entrants.

DidiPop Bunny in the Moon CD

This fun, delightful and relaxing CD will soon be released by DidiPop (aka Deborah Poppink) and is her third children’s music CD for kids 2-7. “Bunny In The Moon: bedtime songs for falling asleep” was inspired by Deborah’s sometimes challenging experience of putting her own children to bed, It features 14 original songs that take a child through the bedtime routine, each song getting slower and more lulling as the album unfolds. Parents with wound-up kids start with the first track, while parents with sleepier kids would start on track #5.

Musically the album is filled with warm, intimate piano, layers of vocal harmonies, and an abundance of tangible love energy. Songs incorporate music that has touched Deborah. You can hear the influences of Brain Eno (“Bukie”), Enya (“Good Night My Love”), The Beatles (“Chloe in the Clouds”), and Musical Theater (“Brush Brush”) along with Mozart, Bach and Chopin (“Little Star”, “Oceans of Love (Dream)” and “The Cricket Alphabet”).

Your baby’s sleep shouldn’t be stressful and The Baby Sleep Site strives to provide a strong, non-judgmental, support network to help you and your family sleep better. Our website has helped countless families through free online articles, step-by-step e-Books, and private and personalized sleep consulting services.

One winner will win a Basic Email Consultation package to help with your sleep struggles. With this consultation package, you will receive a Personalized Sleep Plan™ which is like a mini book written just for you and your family. A follow-up email will help to fine tune the plan or provide additional support after you have put the recommend strategies to work. If you already have an account, your account will be credited. *This prize is available to US and International entrants.

Yesterday was the first day of National Sleep Awareness week in the United States. This Sleep Awareness week is meant to also coincide with US Daylight Saving Time on Sunday, March 11, 2012. National Sleep Awareness week is a public education campaign to help promote and educate the importance of sleep. Here at The Baby Sleep Site™, we know all too well the importance of sleep for babies, toddlers and their very tired parents. Daylight Saving Time is often a concern for many parents who fear that the time change could create additional or new sleep problems. Our hope is that our articles and resources provide the information and tips that parents need to help teach their little ones healthy sleep habits and to get through transition periods like Daylight Saving Time.

The sleep-wake cycle is regulated by light and dark and it takes time for a baby’s sleep rhythms to devlop

By 3 to 6 months of age, most babies have a regular sleep-wake cycle.

Developing a regular sleep time routine can help a baby or toddler to understand when it’s time to go to sleep.

Daylight Saving Time

Here are some sleep tips for how to help your baby to sleep later after spring forward daylight saving time:

Change your daytime routines to be an hour later, not just sleep

Ensure your baby naps at least one hour for each nap (except for the third nap of the day for babies taking three naps)

Make sure you set bedtime to be the new time HOWEVER if your bedtime was too late before, make it earlier than the new clock time (which is still later than the old)

If you don’t already have them, try room-darkening blinds/curtains

Ensure your baby is eating enough during the day

You can read more of our tips on how to survive the Spring Forward Daylight Saving Time HERE.

Giveaway

For National Sleep Awareness Week, we thought it would be a great time to have a giveaway! For this giveaway we have a grand prize of the winner’s choice of a $150 gift card to Amazon or Target and along with several sleep related prizes which are meant to either help you and your baby with getting more sleep or with learning healthy sleep habits. Entries to the giveaway will be accepted today through 11:59 pm, March 11, 2012. Prizes and their descriptions are listed below followed by instructions for how you can enter the giveaway.

The Grand Prize Winner for the Sleep Awareness Week Giveaway will have their choice of either a $150 Gift Card to Amazon or to Target. Either gift card can be used to order easily online or the Target Gift Card can also be used in a Target Retail Store. (*Please note that the Target gift card option is only available to US Residents. If you are outside of the US and are drawn for the grand prize, you will receive the Amazon Gift Card.)

The 3 Step System to Help Your Child Sleep We will be giving away a copy of this ebook to one lucky winner. This book helps you design a step by step a sleep coaching plan that works for you and your family. It also includes a quick reference guide with age-specific sleep guidelines and sleep log for tracking your child’s sleep patterns. Whether you are interested in co-sleeping, crying it out, setting schedules, night weaning or feeding at night, this book covers it all!

Sometimes it is unavoidable that you are out and about and it is your baby’s nap time or baby just simply zonks out. With the SnoozeShade, babies can get the sleep they need when out and about with SnoozeShade – a range of award-winning, breathable blackout covers that make any time sleep time. Sometimes it’s just inevitable that your baby or toddler will fall asleep while you’re out running errands or shopping. The SnoozeShade can help your child to get some rest during those times!

SnoozeShade Original, fits all single strollers, and SnoozeShade Infant Car Seat, for most group 0/0+ infant carriers, are designed to help babies get the rest they need by creating a dark, comfortable sleep cocoon which blocks out 94% of light. SnoozeShades also provide baby with the highest level of sun protection with UPF50+, protect from wind and chill and can be used to shade delicate eyes.

Designed by a mom and endorsed by sleep experts and health professionals worldwide, SnoozeShade is soft, small and a cinch to use. You can find out more on their website about the entire line of SnoozeShade products.

One winner will receive the SnoozeShade Original for a stroller and one winner will receive a SnoozeShade for an Infant Car Seat.

Yawning Yoga is kid-tested (and parent approved!). It is truly and uniquely a book designed specifically to help kids sleep. The books’ careful sequencing makes it the perfect sleepy time book and helps a child establish a bedtime routine that is proven to work.

Incorporating Yawning Yoga into your child’s bedtime routine, provides the perfect sleep solution for your child by helping shift her minds’ focus from being preoccupied with daily stressors to focusing her attention to yoga postures, relaxation techniques and breath work, with the ultimate goal being a restful sleep.

But perhaps what’s most wonderful about Yawning Yoga is that it offers parents the opportunity to positively interact and bond with their children before bedtime, Not only will it help relax kids and increase the quality of their sleep, but will afford parents the same benefits.

The Good Nite Lite is the perfect nightlight for helping babies and toddler which helps promote a child’s ability to get into a healthy sleep pattern. This nightlight features a nighttime moon light that is set at bedtime to give off a soft blue glow that provides enough light to soothe your child but is not too bright as to inhibit sleeping. Parents can then set the light for a specific wake-up time and the sun lights up letting your baby or toddler learn and understand that until the sun lights up, it is still sleep time. The Good Nite Lite is a great visual cue for young children to begin moving from waking up too early and interfering with getting a full night’s rest.

One winner will receive a Good Nite Lite to give their toddler their own sun and moon to help them understand when it’s time to get up and when it’s time to go to bed!

Your baby’s sleep shouldn’t be stressful and The Baby Sleep Site strives to provide a strong, non-judgmental, support network to help you and your family sleep better. Our website has helped countless families through free online articles, step-by-step e-Books, and private and personalized sleep consulting services.

One winner will win a Basic Email Consultation package to help with your sleep struggles. With this consultation package, you will receive a Personalized Sleep Plan™ which is like a mini book written just for you and your family. A follow-up email will help to fine tune the plan or provide additional support after you have put the recommend strategies to work. If you already have an account, your account will be credited.

Deadline to enter is Sunday, March 11, 2012, 11:59 p.m. EDT.

Here is how you can enter:

(*Please note that all shipped prizes are available to US residents only.)

4. Tweet about this giveaway with a link back to this post and the tag #babysleep. The tag will allow us to track and locate your tweet entry. – 1 entry (You can enter as many times as you wish! Tweet daily!)

7. Blog about this giveaway on your blog. Include a link to this post in your blog post. Please include a link to your blog post in the comments. Blog posts must be posted publicly and not on membership sites to be entered. – 10 entries